1,800km cycle marathon for Palmer Park Velo

Young members of a Palmer Park cycling club will take on the challenge of cycling 1,800km in three hours tomorrow in the hope of raising more than £3,000 for a charity that supports children in South Africa.

Emily Conn, Kitty Pilgrim and Jenny Oliver will be taking part in the marathon challenge tomorrow

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Young members of a Palmer Park cycling club will take on the challenge of cycling 1,800km in three hours tomorrow in the hope of raising more than £3,000 for a charity that supports children in South Africa.

Members of Palmer Park Velo will complete laps of the Palmer Park Velodrome in aid of the Zoe Sarojini Educational Trust, a UK-based group that aims to improve the education of children living in South Africa and give them the opportunity for a brighter future.

The team’s challenge will help the charity with its current project of helping to relocate an orphanage from a remote location, where there is no running water or electricity, to a site that has both.

The new location will also be closer to schools, hospitals and public transport.

The idea to support the charity came from Emily Hogge, a former member of Palmer Park Velo who spent her gap year living and working in Inguwavuma, a small rural community that is home to the orphanage.

She said: “I know the work the Zoe Sarojini Educational Trust is doing is changing lives for the better in one of the poorest communities in South Africa and one that has been devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I also know that the Palmer Park Velo is a fantastic club with a very special atmosphere.

“I believe the club can do something exceptional for this great cause.”

For the challenge, each member of the team has been set a target distance for them to cycle.

The younger riders, who are as young as four, will cycle around 11 laps of the velodrome while older members will cycle up to 217 laps, in the event between 9am and noon.

It is hoped that the combined distances cycled by the team will add up to more than 1,800km, which is the approximate distance between Reading and South Africa.